The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO (previously known as United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo or MONUC, French: Mission de l'Organisation des Nations Unies en République démocratique du Congo), is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was established by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions 1279 (1999) and 1291 (2000) of the United Nations Security Council to monitor the peace process of the Second Congo War, though much of its focus subsequently turned to the Ituri conflict, the Kivu conflict and the Dongo conflict.

The initial UN presence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, before the passing of Resolution 1291, was a force of military observers to observe and report on the compliance on factions with the peace accords, a deployment authorised by the earlier Resolution 1258 (1999).

Since 1999, about US$ 8.73 billion have been spent to fund the UN peacekeeping effort in DRC. As of June 2010, the total strength of UN peacekeeping troops in DRC exceed 20,000. More than thirty nations have contributed military and police personnel for peacekeeping effort, with India being the single largest contributor. In June 2011, it was reported that India is preparing to gradually scale back its military commitment to MONUSCO.

Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt (born August 15, 1972), better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), and Dogma (1999). Affleck won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the screenplay for Good Will Hunting (1997), which he co-wrote with Matt Damon, and has appeared in lead roles in such popular hits as Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Changing Lanes (2002), The Sum of All Fears (2002), Daredevil (2003), Hollywoodland (2007) and State of Play (2009).

Affleck is a critically acclaimed filmmaker. He directed Gone Baby Gone (2007) and The Town (2010), playing the lead in the latter. He has worked with his younger brother, actor Casey Affleck, on several projects, including Good Will Hunting and Gone Baby Gone.

Affleck has been married to Jennifer Garner since June 2005. They have two daughters, Violet and Seraphina, and a son, Samuel. He dated the actress Gwyneth Paltrow in 1998. His relationship with actress/singer Jennifer Lopez attracted worldwide media attention, in which Affleck and Lopez were dubbed "Bennifer". The two broke up in 2004.

Donald Yamamoto is the former U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia (2006–2009), and current Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary within the Bureau of African Affairs. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in November, 2006, and presented his credentials to Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in Addis Ababa on December 6, 2006.

Yamamoto was born in Seattle, Washington and later graduated from Columbia University. He was formerly the United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti (2000-2003), and U.S. Ambassador to Eritrea ad interim (1997-1998).

From April 22–23, 2006, Yamamoto met with current Chadian President Idriss Déby to discuss Chad's dispute with the World Bank over allocation of its petroleum funds and the possibility of a U.S.-led, United Nations-monitored peace keeping force to end the Chadian-Sudanese conflict.

Yamamoto tried unsuccessfully to convince President Déby to delay the upcoming presidential election which was held on May 3.